Chapter 16: The Price of a Dress and a CEO’s Scheme

Closing the door and stepping out of the car, Zhou Ruoyu, like a timid little pet with an automatic tracking system, followed in Gu Jiachen’s footsteps, her head bowed shyly. With a hesitant effort, she finally lifted her gaze, glancing at the building before her, only to be momentarily dazzled by the midday sun glinting off its advertising signs.

Swoosh—

Zhou Ruoyu drew a sharp, cold breath, then gazed in awe at the colossal shopping mall. Its luxurious and exquisite European-style architecture and its soaring, landmark height made an ordinary person like Zhou Ruoyu realize at a glance that this was not a place she should be shopping.

As expected, after Gu Jiachen led her inside and they browsed a few high-end boutiques, Zhou Ruoyu, seeing price tags starting in the four or five digits, deeply felt that she truly did not belong amidst such luxury. She trembled visibly, nervously tugged at Gu Jiachen’s sleeve, and spoke:

“Let’s… let’s go, CEO Gu. It’s too expensive here…”

Gu Jiachen paused, momentarily taken aback. Then, he turned to her and shrugged naturally.

“While it’s a bit pricey, the designs from major brands are quite excellent. Wearing them often exudes a certain elegance, doesn’t it? The materials are also high quality, making them more comfortable, at least. Besides, didn’t I just give you a hundred thousand in pocket money, little rabbit~? Let’s stick with this store. Buy a few pieces; pick them out yourself~”

Oh, come on.

Zhou Ruoyu was momentarily speechless. ‘No… no, the girl was truly starting to suspect that this damned CEO owned this mall too. He wasn’t playing some sort of patronage fee recovery scheme with her, was he? Damn it!’

‘And to ask her to pick out women’s clothes, this… this…’

‘Did he think a former boy who didn’t even know how to use a sanitary pad could pick out anything good?!’

After a moment, seeing Zhou Ruoyu standing rooted to the spot with a bewildered expression, Gu Jiachen sighed, waved his hand, and then said:

“Since you don’t have any ideas, then… will you trust my taste?”

“My idea is, not too expensive,” Zhou Ruoyu mumbled, and was promptly ushered into the store. An enthusiastic sales assistant immediately approached, displaying a sweet and charming smile, and then asked:

“Beautiful lady, handsome sir, welcome! What would you two like to buy? Our latest summer collection for women has just arrived. Would you be interested in taking a look?”

“Hmm… let’s look at little dresses!” Gu Jiachen feigned a moment of contemplation. However, only a few seconds later, the CEO couldn’t help but let a smirk play on his lips as he thus directed.

“Certainly~”

Eh?

‘No, no, no… no, straight to dresses?!’

The black-haired, straight-haired girl was instantly terrified. She had originally thought this shopping trip would just involve buying two loose shirts and a pair of jeans, matching what she wore when she arrived, and a pair of well-fitting shoes. How had they fast-forwarded straight to wearing dresses?!

Growing up, as a boy, Zhou Ruoyu had only worn a skirt once. That was in kindergarten, when there weren’t enough girls for a performance. Zhou Ruoyu had been coaxed with two candies by her teacher into wearing a pink puffy dress and went on stage to make up the numbers.

Zhou Ruoyu had no lasting memory of it at the time. It wasn’t until several years later, when she was flipping through her childhood photo album with her crush, a female deskmate, that from a hidden compartment in the album, a photo she had never seen before suddenly fell out… a group photo from that very performance…

Her deskmate immediately pointed out Zhou Ruoyu in the little dress in the photo, chortled, and patted her shoulder. With each playful slap, Zhou Ruoyu felt… the tall and imposing image she had always imagined herself to be in her deskmate’s eyes was being pounded into a gopher.

…

Ahhhhh—!

Snapping back to reality, Zhou Ruoyu had already been led to a clothing rack by the sales assistant. The enthusiastic sales assistant held a simple yellow and white dress in her left hand, and a rather alluring black lace Lolita dress in her other. Nearby, several dresses exuding a sweet, pink charm were also displayed. “Beautiful lady, which style do you prefer?”

Ha… ha…

Zhou Ruoyu coughed twice. Still reeling from the embarrassing memory, she was instantly bewildered by the question. If the sales assistant was saying this, did she absolutely have to choose one today?

Zhou Ruoyu glanced left and right. After a moment, she quietly pointed to the black and white dress that looked rather simple and elegant. The sales assistant’s eyes lit up as if she’d found a treasure, and she asked in disbelief: “Are you sure? Or would you like to try it on first? Beautiful lady, what size do you usually wear?”

“No, no, no… no need to try it! Haha, I… I’ll just buy it and keep it as a collectible… As for the size… uh… Sister, what size do you think I should be?”

Zhou Ruoyu scratched her head, asking awkwardly. The sales assistant tilted her head in surprise, amazed that a girl would buy clothes this way—not even trying them on or comparing options in person. She was also surprised that… this child didn’t even know her own size.

“The smallest size should be enough… but it’s still better to try it on, just in case it doesn’t fit when you get home.”

Just as Zhou Ruoyu and the assistant were staring blankly at each other, Gu Jiachen slowly walked over, hands in his pockets. The girl instantly drew a sharp breath, and in mere moments, saw through her sworn enemy’s intentions.

‘He absolutely wants to see me in a dress!’

Originally, Zhou Ruoyu had planned that if she absolutely had to buy a dress, she would take it home, enshrine it, and never actually wear it. But now she was completely out of options.

After all, the other party was currently her sugar daddy. If her sugar daddy wanted to see… Zhou Ruoyu still didn’t want to thoroughly provoke Gu Jiachen, lest the mission, which was so close to completion, fall through. She could only be grateful that she had chosen a more modest dress earlier.

Thus, Zhou Ruoyu could only nod awkwardly, then took the dress from the assistant and entered the fitting room. Gu Jiachen watched the girl’s retreating back, then turned back to the assistant, pointing as he spoke:

“This Lolita dress, this uniform set, this pajama set, and these others… pack them all up for me. I’ll buy everything.”

“Yes, yes, yes! Oh, thank you so much, sir… You’re so good to your girlfriend~!”

Hearing that he intended to buy so many clothes at once, the sales assistant’s words flowed like honey. Gu Jiachen merely smiled faintly. ‘Well, about that…’

‘How should he put it?’

‘It’s… setting bait at any cost~’

‘After all, this Miss Rabbit might seem naive and sweet, but she’s quite cunning underneath. If he didn’t properly research what kind of bait Miss Rabbit likes, how could he possibly reel her in?’

After much deliberation on how to wear the dress, Zhou Ruoyu finally pulled open the fitting room curtain. The girl slowly emerged from the room, like a pear blossom in full bloom, exuding an elegant aura amidst her purity. A faint blush tinged her shy face. She tilted her head, then asked the dumbfounded Gu Jiachen:

“What’s wrong?”